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Book Reviews: January 2018

January 31, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

Book Reviews January 2018

Book Reviews January 2018:

Long, cold January is the perfect month for reading. I did quite a bit of it. As I began to look back on the books I read in January, I realized they all leaned heavily on the theme of relationship. Whether set in crowded Calcutta, the migrant farm fields of south Florida, or a New York insane asylum, interaction with family, neighbors, friends, home, and even complete strangers made for compelling storytelling. Stephen King calls books portable magic. Charles William Eliot referred to books as his quiet, constant companions.

My January books certainly provided quiet, constant companionship as they magically transported me to Iowa, Ohio, a front porch in Mississippi. I even made a few new friends.Continue Reading

My Room and its View

January 29, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

My Room with a View

My Room and its View

When I sit on the couch with my Macbook or journal, I am usually absorbed in my work. My view is my computer screen or scribbly writing or messy edits. A few days ago, I’d been working for several hours without a break. (I recommend a brain break at least every hour, so I wasn’t following my own advice.) Anyway, I put away my edits, took my glass of tea, and moved to the other side of the couch for a slight change of scenery.

The house was silent. The streaming sunlight made the windows glow and the floors gleam.

After days of cold cloud cover, a tablespoon of sunlight uplifts, inspires, warms, tricks me into believing winter is over even when it isn’t.

I took a picture.

And then I studied the picture.Continue Reading

Alabama Girl Trip ~ Part 1

January 24, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

Alabama Girl Trip Part 1

I’m blogging about our recent Alabama Girl Trip not because I think everyone wants to hear every little detail but because later, when I can’t remember beans about it, I can read this post and say, “Oh, yeah, that was sooooo much fun. We should do it again!”

That’s one of the long-term benefits of keeping a diary blogging.?

My sister, Staci, and I decided this year instead of giving Momma another sweater she didn’t need, we would give her an experience. A trip to visit her college friend who lives in Wetumpka, Alabama. Momma and Carlene have been friends since 1955. They roomed together at Caraway Hall until graduating from Arkansas Tech in 1959 (then known as Arkansas Polytechnic College).

Now they live 375 miles apart. They see each other once a year at Tech homecoming. No matter the distance, they text, talk, and email almost every night. They even watch certain television shows and football games together via iPads / computers. Because neither drives long distances anymore, getting together is difficult. (Click HERE to read more about Momma, Carlene, and the “Girls of Caraway Hall”. Someone should write a book about them.)

This trip was the perfect gift for ALL of us. Continue Reading

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: February 22, 2026
  • Our Garden Mission Statement
  • Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.
  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book

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